Consumer health: Back to school means head lice
For many families, the start of school is a busy, exciting time of year. For some families, though, returning to school also means unpleasant, unwelcome guests: head lice.
Aug 24, 2023
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For many families, the start of school is a busy, exciting time of year. For some families, though, returning to school also means unpleasant, unwelcome guests: head lice.
Aug 24, 2023
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Wrangling head lice, and the children they infest, must be up there with the most challenging duties a parent or caregiver has to face.
Jun 14, 2023
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Head lice are ubiquitous still, so there's a good chance your son or daughter could develop an infestation. Now, the nation's leading pediatrics group is issuing new guidelines to help schools and families cope.
Sep 27, 2022
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An estimated 6–12 million infestations of head lice occur each year in the U.S. among children ages three to 11, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Aug 25, 2022
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South Africa's health products regulator on Wednesday approved the "controlled" use of anti-parasitic agent ivermectin on humans, reversing a decision to ban the drug last month over unproven claims that it can treat COVID-19.
Jan 27, 2021
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A new school year, and another battle between bloodsucking parasites and the kids they love to live on.
Jan 29, 2019
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Parents are being warned there could be a big rise in head lice outbreaks in schools this winter. The health charity Community Hygiene Concern has predicted that low-income families will be hit hardest after a change in NHS ...
Nov 19, 2018
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Exposure to a particular group of chemicals widely used in pest control for people, pets, and crops, may be linked to behavioural difficulties in 6 year olds, suggests research published online in Occupational & Environmental ...
Mar 1, 2017
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New research to be presented at the 2016 American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition finds that lice can be the end of a happy summer for many kids at sleepaway camp.
Oct 21, 2016
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Once head lice have attached themselves to hair follicles, they can deftly evade detection and are therefore hard to kill. Infestations of these bloodsucking parasites are commonly dealt with using chemicals and a specialized ...
Nov 3, 2015
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Head-louse infestation or head lice (also referred to colloquially in British, Irish, and Australian English as nits) is a human medical condition caused by the colonization of the hair and skin by the parasitic insect Pediculus humanus capitis—the head louse. Typically, only the head or scalp of the host is infested, although the disease can occur in other hairy parts of the body, like leg hairs. Head lice feed on human blood (hematophagy), and itching from louse bites is a common symptom of this condition. Treatment typically includes application of topical insecticides such as a pyrethrin or permethrin, although a variety of folk remedies are also common.
Lice infestation in general is known as pediculosis, and occurs in many mammalian and bird species. The term pediculosis capitis, or simply "pediculosis", is sometimes used to refer to the specific human pediculosis due to P. humanus capitis (i.e., head-louse infestation). Humans are hosts for two other lice as well—the body louse and the crab louse.
Head-louse infestation is widely endemic, especially in children. It is a cause of some concern in public health, although, unlike human body lice, head lice are not carriers of other infectious diseases.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA